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1 – 10 of over 14000J. David Hacker, Michael R. Haines and Matthew Jaremski
The US fertility transition in the nineteenth century is unusual. Not only did it start from a very high fertility level and very early in the nation’s development, but it also…
Abstract
The US fertility transition in the nineteenth century is unusual. Not only did it start from a very high fertility level and very early in the nation’s development, but it also took place long before the nation’s mortality transition, industrialization, and urbanization. This paper assembles new county-level, household-level, and individual-level data, including new complete-count IPUMS microdata databases of the 1830–1880 censuses, to evaluate different theories for the nineteenth-century American fertility transition. We construct cross-sectional models of net fertility for currently-married white couples in census years 1830–1880 and test the results with a subset of couples linked between the 1850–1860, 1860–1870, and 1870–1880 censuses. We find evidence of marital fertility control consistent with hypotheses as early as 1830. The results indicate support for several different but complementary theories of the early US fertility decline, including the land availability, conventional structuralist, ideational, child demand/quality-quantity tradeoff, and life cycle savings theories.
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Rafael Terra and Enlinson Mattos
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role played by the geographic distance between the poor and non‐poor in the local demand for income redistribution and, in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role played by the geographic distance between the poor and non‐poor in the local demand for income redistribution and, in particular, to provide an empirical test of the geographically limited altruism model proposed by Pauly, incorporating the possibility of participation costs associated with the provision of transfers.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors motivate the discussion by allowing for an “iceberg cost” as participation for the poor individuals in Pauly's original model. Next, using data from the 2000 Brazilian Census and a panel based on the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) from 2001 to 2007, the authors estimate the effect of the proximity between poor and non‐poor on the demand for redistribution.
Findings
All of the authors' distance‐related explanatory variables indicate that an increased proximity between poor and non‐poor is associated with better targeting of the programs (demand for redistribution). For instance, a one‐hour increase in the time spent commuting by the poor reduces the targeting by 3.158 percentage points. This result is similar to that of Ashworth et al., but is definitely not due to the program leakages. To empirically disentangle participation costs and spatially restricted altruism effects, an additional test is conducted using unique panel data based on the 2004 and 2006 PNAD, which assess the number of benefits and the average benefit value received by beneficiaries. The estimates suggest that both cost and altruism play important roles in the demand for redistribution and might reduce targeting in Brazil. Lastly, the results indicate that “size matters”; i.e. the budget for redistribution has a positive impact on targeting.
Practical implications
Our results suggest that a totally centralized supply of transfers may be more inefficient than local redistribution in terms of targeting, either due to higher participation costs or because of the eventual greater geographical distance between the national median voter and poor individuals. However, a partial role for the federal government, such as providing funds for redistribution, seems to improve targeting.
Originality/value
In particular, the paper provides an empirical test for the geographically limited altruism model proposed by Pauly, incorporating the possibility of participation costs associated with the provision of transfers. The authors motivate this discussion by adding the possibility of distance‐related “iceberg costs” of delivering benefits to poor individuals and show that these two effects of distance may act to lower the demand for transfers, making it difficult to distinguish between the two effects. These two effects of distance act by lowering the demand for transfers, making it difficult to disentangle the effect of altruism from the effect of cost. The authors' empirical strategy seems to allow to identify each of them and to provide a suggestion on whether it is advantageous to carry out redistribution at the local level.
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ANTHONY E. BOPP and MITCHELL DURST
Forecasters have frequently been concerned with designing seasonal adjustment procedures that satisfy particular theoretical criteria (e.g. orthogonality, idempotency, symmetry…
Abstract
Forecasters have frequently been concerned with designing seasonal adjustment procedures that satisfy particular theoretical criteria (e.g. orthogonality, idempotency, symmetry, Lovell). In evaluating the merits of a particular technique, Monte Carlo studies are often undertaken and the results are then compared to those derived from the Census Bureau's X—11 routine (Wallis, Stephenson, Grether). However, many practical questions have not been addressed, such as to what extent can seasonal routines affect parameter estimates, forecast values, and policy scenarios? The purpose of this article is to focus upon these questions. Data from a short‐term petroleum demand model is seasonally adjusted six different ways. The seasonally adjusted data is then used to estimate the demand relationships of the model using the same structural equation in each case. The results of these estimations provide illuminating information about how seasonality affects parameter values. For policy purposes, this information can be crucial as various policies can be predicated upon an estimated response to a particular variable (e.g. the price of gasoline). The question answered here is how sensitive are the expected policy results to the type of seasonal routine employed in making the estimations.
Haim Hilman and Narentheren Kaliappen
The purpose of this paper is to test the linkage between innovation strategies (process innovation and service innovation) and organizational performance in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the linkage between innovation strategies (process innovation and service innovation) and organizational performance in the context of Malaysia hotel industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 475 sets of questionnaires administrated through mail to all three star and above rating hotel managers in Malaysia, and only 24 percent of it, which is 114 were usable. Regression was utilized to test the link of innovation strategies and performance.
Findings
The results showed that hotels in Malaysia used process innovation and service innovation as their functional-level strategy. Specifically, both process innovation and service innovation strategies positively linked with performance. But, the paired sample t-test result indicated that process innovation has slightly greater effect on performance than service innovation. In addition, this study found that hotel size significantly affected the performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study is one of the limited number of studies which has empirically addressed the effect of innovation strategies on performance in hotel industry. Additional researches are needed to address effect of potential mediators or even moderators in innovation strategies and performance linkage.
Practical implications
This study found that implementation of process innovation and service innovation as their functional strategy could assist to attain better performance in Malaysia hotel industry. Entirely the findings provided new insight to the hotel management in understanding the role of innovation strategies in generating enhanced performance.
Originality/value
Process innovation and service innovation in the service industry have received very limited empirical attention in current innovation literature. This study extended the body of knowledge in innovation literature, particularly in hospitality sector in Malaysia.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of the relationship between stakeholder demand, resources, knowledge and product uniqueness on green marketing and its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of the relationship between stakeholder demand, resources, knowledge and product uniqueness on green marketing and its implication on sustainability performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a quantitative research approach that explains the phenomenon by collecting numerical data analyzed using mathematically based methods. The research location was Batik Lawean Center of Surakarta, which is the centers of Batik industry and heritage. These locations were chosen because Laweyan and Kedung Baruk have a vision as the center of Batik industry and environment-friendly heritage through sustainable development.
Findings
Stakeholder demand, resource, knowledge and the uniqueness of the product have a significant effect on the application of green management, and the green management has a significant effect on the sustainability performance. It means that the stakeholder demand, resources, knowledge and product uniqueness have a significant effect on green management, and green management simultaneously shows a significant effect on sustainability performance. The application of green management will also improve sustainability performance.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is on the testing of simultaneous relationships between the factors making up the application of green marketing, namely stakeholder demand, resources, knowledge and product uniqueness, as well as the impact of green marketing implementation on sustainability performance. This study focuses on the application of green management by involving the measurement of environmental performance and financial performance, as has been investigated by Karagiorgos (2010) and Earnhart and Lizal (2006). On the other hand, this study attempts to review the application of green management in the form of environmental performance as studied by Filbeck and Gorman (2004) and Sarah and Peter (2000), which reveal several determinants of environmental performance, as suggested by Mutamimah and Handoko (2011). However, this study focuses on the qualitative determinants that have been found by researchers (Raharjo, 2016) that the low or high level of green management application is determined by the demand of stakeholders, resources, knowledge, and product uniqueness considering the object of research is the Batik industry, which is certainly different from other industries, such as those that have been investigated by Karagiorgos (2010), Earnhart and Lizal (2006), Mutamimah and Handoko (2011), Filbeck and Gorman (2004), and Sarah and Peter (2000). This study also combines the measurement of financial performance and non-financial performance in the form of sustainability performance variables.
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Roberta Sammut and Amanda Scicluna
The purpose of this paper is to compare the perceived transformational leadership practices of charge and staff nurses. Transformational leadership is effective in promoting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the perceived transformational leadership practices of charge and staff nurses. Transformational leadership is effective in promoting change in organisations, with the leader guiding followers towards a common vision.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative, descriptive, comparative survey design was used. All charge nurses (N = 151) and staff nurses (N = 1,950) in six health entities in Malta were included. A mixed mode survey design was used. Data were collected using the Leadership Practices Inventory and analysed using ANOVA and the Kruskal–Wallis test.
Findings
An overall response rate of 15% (n = 315) was achieved. Both staff and charge nurses perceived transformational leadership to be practiced. Charge nurses scored consistently higher than staff nurses. In long-term care environments, charge nurses are more likely to “model the way”, while in acute settings, they were more likely to “enable others to act”.
Research limitations/implications
Transformational leadership appears to be applied by charge nurses in Malta. The response rate achieved was low and may limit the generalisability of the results of the study.
Practical implications
Nurse managers need to adapt their transformational leadership style based on the context in which they work.
Originality/value
Regular feedback from nursing staff should be sought for charge nurses to be aware of the extent to which they are implementing transformational leadership.
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Debora Thome and Byron Villacís
Population censuses collect socio-demographic and economic information regularly and in an institutionalized manner. The decision of what topics to include in their questionnaires…
Abstract
Population censuses collect socio-demographic and economic information regularly and in an institutionalized manner. The decision of what topics to include in their questionnaires reflects political priorities, but also it is a materialization of symbolic power (Bourdieu, 1991; Loveman, 2005). Gender practices – including budgeting, policy-making, implementation and monitoring of programs – depend significantly on census results. Understanding the institutional dynamics of public statistics sheds light on structural obstacles to exercise gender rights. To study this phenomenon, the authors look at the last century of the Brazilian and Ecuadorian censuses. The research provides a better understanding about the process of including or rejecting questions related to gender, specifically the arguments used in the process of selecting questions. Brazil and Ecuador were chosen because of the different profiles of each of their statistical institutions. The Brazilian institute, IBGE, is a larger, stable and semi-autonomous statistical office; Brazil has conducted population censuses since the nineteenth century. The Ecuadorian institute, INEC, is a smaller and more politically dependent statistical office; it has conducted population censuses since 1950.
Using archival analysis within the questionnaires and interviewing key demographers, activists and statisticians in both countries, the authors argue that the presence or absence of gender questions in the Brazilian and Ecuadorian censuses is historically and politically contingent. In contrast to the dominant narrative that suggests that changes in the vision of public statistics is correlated with the modernization of the state, it appears that the statistical visibility of gender issues in each society does not follow a linear path.
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Reflects on three years′ experience of Annual Reports on the PublicHealth. Argues that the material benefits do not warrant an overlysubstantial amount of dedicated time – a…
Abstract
Reflects on three years′ experience of Annual Reports on the Public Health. Argues that the material benefits do not warrant an overly substantial amount of dedicated time – a five‐year strategic public health programme, supported by a periodic cross‐sectional analysis, is more appropriate and would exploit much wider sources of data than those generally appearing in Annual Reports, Considers the value of the Decennial Census of Population, as a data source. Suggests that it must be used in conjunction with other sources of “hard” data. Also argues that methods for collecting and incorporating qualitative data must be developed, together with a framework for informed policy analysis, which would facilitate a participative dialogue compatible with the aims of the “new” public health.
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Reviews methods of estimating shopping centre turnover in theabsence of published census information. Discusses use of market areaanalysis and reviews the experience of surveying…
Abstract
Reviews methods of estimating shopping centre turnover in the absence of published census information. Discusses use of market area analysis and reviews the experience of surveying retailers themselves in order to measure turnover. Reports a case study of small towns in mid Wales which found that about 70 per cent of the retailers approached were willing to be surveyed, and of these about 70 per cent were willing to provide information on turnover. Examines the use of surrogate measures such as retail employment and concludes that, while such surveys are worthwhile in present circumstances, reinstatement of a centrally organized compulsory census is essential in the longer term.
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